natreviews's Reviews (445)

Before you read this review, this is really one of those boo that should be read with not knowing a whole lot of information going into it. Or, if you had heard of the podcast "In the Wires", this is a great companion book (not necessary to listen to read the book, and not necessary to read the book to listen).

Firstly, I want to say how much depth and difference You Feel It Just Below The Ribs is to Jeffery Cranor's other books. I have read Welcome to Nightvale (the first of the Nightvale books) as well as read the first volume and part of the second of the podcast manuscripts that they published in book form.

I found You Feel It Just Below The Ribs to be an interesting, thought provoking read. The story takes place in an alternate 20th century, where connections between family members becomes outlawed. You follow the scientist reflecting on her life from during a WWI-ish war, to discovering the techique she uses, to developing it, and seeing it all go wrong.

One of the things I have always appreciated about Cranor (and his co-writers) is that they include queer characters. It's really cool to see and I always love the inclusion and seeing a bit of me reflected on the page.

The writing itself is amazing. You follow two different storytellers, the main character Miriam and the publishing company, who throughout the novel will interject corrections. It's down to the reader to decide how much of Miriam's story is true, how much you believe the publisher has been conditioned by the society they now live in, and how much of the later third of the book is really a conspiracy or not.  Speaking of the later third, be ready for a hard hitting coupe of pages that will make you squirm in your seat. 

I haven't read anything before by the co-author Janina Matthewson, but seeing this book, I'll need to check some of her stuff out. Of course you never know how much is written by one author or the other, but this book just has a bit of a different flavour than Cranor's other books that I bet came from Matthewson.

Overall, I am very happy I read this book and it will be kept in my library for the foreseeable future.

When I picked up this book, I didn't realize it was based on a podcast of the same name. Note to self: add RedHanded onto our listening list. I'm so glad I read it though.

This book is a good introduction to both true crime, and those who have started to ponder why do serial killers kill. It covers 8 main topics, and fleshes out the chapters with true crime cases and science (whether that be psychology, forensics, etc.) while making the content easy to digest and fun to read. 

At the end, they ask to reflect on why we are so captivated by serial killers/true crime? For me, it's the why. Why or how does a person become this? What puts them past the edge to do the unthinkable/go against social programing? This book may not have all of the answers, but it is super informative and easy to comprehend. There were even some cases I hadn't heard about, and one particular case that doesn't get a whole lot of attention outside of Canada! (When the Ken and Barbie Killers popped up, I was like oh, a Canadian case that is known to two people across the pond, cool!)

Overall, whether you are brand new to true crime, or are a seasoned pro, this book will be a relatable, fun read, with the bit of flair only true crime podcasters seem to have.

They say never to judge a book by it's cover... I have to admit, that's something I do quite often. When I started this book (the first 100 pages give or take), I was disappointed. It started slow, I didn't really care for what was going on, and I wanted a murder in space. Once take-off happens, the story (and the stakes for all of the characters) ranks up to a thrilling read. Was the perpetrator obvious at the reveal? Yes. Is this a bad thing? No. 

The book goes into great lengths to explain a lot of what happens, which makes the twist not surprising as it's hinted at all along. When I started out, I thought this was such a Dad book. I still stand by that, but it's honestly for anyone who is interested in space and the space race. Even though the story itself is fiction, a lot of the devices, technology, and programs were/are real. It helps to really flesh out the story.

I'd say any adult who is even slightly interested in space and the moon landings will like this, but Dads (who were alive when this was happening for real) will highly enjoy this book.

The illustrations and the stories are beautiful. They are good one paragraph stories, but I wish they were longer. 

I picked this book up hoping to learn more than I did about QAnon... and honestly, I didn't learn too many new things. I learned about some of the violent attacks before the Insurrection on January 6, 2021, but the basics this book covers I already knew. 

That's not to say this is a bad read. It's actually pretty decent. I would recommend this to people who aren't into podcasts (which I would recommend And That's Why We Drink's episodes on Q [Em did a 3 part series on everything QAnon]), but don't want to look it up on the internet and accidentally fall into this conspiracy theory/cult. It's a good basic understanding of Q, who they are, and why so many people fell for it. 

It doesn't dive too much into the cult aspects (I'd say it would equal to about a chapter and a half's worth of content), but doesn't shy away from saying that it's a cult. 

Overall, not a bad first introduction to QAnon/weird cult stuff/true crime, but if you've been following the story, listen to a podcast or documentary about it, you'll probably want to skip out on this one. 

Don't have a lot for a review (as this is the second in a long line of books in this series). 
- the translation is better in this one. Less confusing in places. 
- the killer had a better motive this time, but still grasped at straws as to who it was. Nothing was concrete until the ending chapters. Again, looking back I can see how the killer is the killer, but the book doesn't do a good job setting up who is the killer without already knowing who it is. (which I think maybe an issue for this series, although that could be down to translation) 
- Harry really can't be happy at the end of these things, eh? 

Okay okay okay. To be honest, I thought I would never read this book. Originally, this was going everywhere on TikTok a couple of months ago through the book community. I thought, what a weird and silly concept, and put it out of my mind. Then, it came up on my feed gain about a new paperback release, with a stunning cover. I thought "Fuck it, I'll buy it for the cover alone." Then thought "Well... might at least try it out."

This is what I hoped for. Now, I'm not one of those people who are into alien/monster/creature spice, but I can see the appeal. I did read this just for the story (I know everyone says that, but it's true), to have a good laugh at a kind of ridiculous plot, and to see how it would go. I highly recommend if you don't want to read it for the spice, read it for the laughs. It's not even a cringe laugh, it is genuinely funny. From it's concept to it's characters, I was laughing through the whole thing.  I couldn't put it down. It's like The Room in the way that you can just have a good time with it (although it is WAY better written than The Room). If you don't take the content seriously, and know that you are going into a story where there is a human and an alien and spicy things happen, you will have an awesome time.

Now, to touch on the spice. It's pretty much your standard heterosexual spice, but with a guy who is 7 feet tall and has horns. Not my personal choice, but it is very well written (way better than 50 shades, which so far is the only comparison I have for heterosexual spice).

Is it the best book ever written? No. Did I have an amazing time? Yes. That's why it's getting 5 stars. For me, I don't rate based on a certain criteria. If I feel a book was a 3, I'll rate it a 3. If a book just slightly missed the mark, I'll rate as such. I had a fun time laughing and invested in the story. That's why it's getting a 5. 

And if any of the other books in the series are published with the same illustrator doing the cover and in paperback, sign me up for a copy!

So, out of all the Stephen King books I've read (now a total of 3, including this one), this is the first one I've liked. Of course, this is one of his classic and most well known books. I haven't seen the movie (although I've heard it's great), but this book was really good. It was tense, had good characters, and I found the situation more believable than his other works. I also enjoyed the callback to The Shining. I recognized some of the towns that are named, and the reason why is they were also mentioned in The Shining. 

So, I hear you asking, why isn't this 5 stars? For one, I really don't like the use of the word rape in this novel. I know at the time it was written this word was okay to use, but apart from one scene, it really didn't need to be used. As the saying goes, if you can use anything other than rape, don't use rape.

I had heard this book from Genevieve Gornichec (author of The Witch's Heart) that was a good source for learning about Vikings. Oh boy, was she not wrong.

This book is super informative. It's essentially a text book that follows pre-Viking Age to a bit post-Viking Age. Get ready to strap into a long reading.

While reading, I did have some moments that caught my eye. Even though we don't know things from the Viking Age, some things are assumed that really shouldn't be. 

The following are more personal notes, things that aren't necessarily fact, but are opinions that the author conveys through the text that I have issues with:

Overall, the above mentioned reasons took my overall rating down by .25. I found it was more information than I was looking for, and I would suggest for the casual reader to pick and choose chapters you're interested in rather than sitting down and reading all of it. For history buffs though, this is a book you will want to read cover to cover.